Former Telangana Minister Jeevan Reddy leaves Congress, ends 40 year association

Former Telangana Minister Jeevan Reddy on Wednesday announced that he has left the Congress party, expressing deep grief and anger over what he described as the party's failure to act following the brutal murder of a close party worker about one and a half years ago.

Speaking to ANI, an emotional Reddy said he had always considered the Congress party a family in the four decades he has worked for them but was disappointed that its leadership did not stand by its members during a time of crisis. He stated that when a party worker was killed, neither the party nor the government responded adequately.

"The Chief Minister is the head of the family. If a family member is killed, the head must take responsibility to console. Not even a single step was taken to compensate them. One and a half years have passed," Reddy said.


He further revealed that he had raised the issue with the party's high command but felt his concerns were ignored. According to Reddy, the national leadership is currently heavily influenced by the state leadership, leaving him with no option but to step down.

When asked about his future political plans, including the possibility of joining rival parties such as Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) or Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Reddy ruled out any immediate move. While acknowledging that major political parties might welcome a leader of his experience, he clarified that he is not considering such options at present.

"We are not in that line of thinking so far. We are planning to go on our own," he said.

Reddy added that he intends to function independently for now, focusing on addressing public grievances and working on issues affecting the people.

Six-time MLA Jeevan Reddy joined the Congress Party in the year 1984 under Rajiv Gandhi's leadership. He was elected as MLA from Jagtial six times, and won five elections from congress party in the years 1989, 1996,1999, 2004 and 2014 and once from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in 1983.

In 2019, he was also elected as a member of legislative council for the graduates' constituency.